My ViWoods AI Paper review
My ViWoods AI Paper review
Before buy
My experience with e-ink readers
- My adventure with e-ink readers begun when colleague from my work shown me his
reader imported from American Amazon somewhere around 2010. I fell in love with e-ink technology instantly. - Not long later I bought 1st generation Kindle Paperwhite as a gift for my lady. Of course I was using it as well, over time dig into the bottom of all features of the device and I was a bit disappointed with size, resolution of the screen and inflexibility of the OS. It is running till this day, but it is aged. It is good enough for reading fiction books, light literature and pretty much nothing else (I've tried).
- By coincidence, it occurred that around 2011 on the other side of a hallway of my employer office Onyx established their Polish headquarter. At the time Onyx Boox M92 was their flagship model. I purchased my first e-book reader and was very happy with it for couple of years. It was capable of reading lots of different formats, was relatively big (9,7 inch screen) to comfortably read PDFs. I rooted the device at some stage, installed custom Linux on it to run ssh client etc.
- Time was passing by, electronic paper technology was developing and I was observing the changes. I've decided to purchase another e-reader when somebody was selling very attractive price on Polish auction portal Allegro Boyue Likebook Mars. I've never heard about this manufacturer and model, but quickly decided to get it after reading datasheet and a few online reviews. The advantages were: 300 PPI, relatively big screen (7,8 inch), Android OS. I was very happy user of the device for approx 2 years when I mistakenly connected wrong charger and ruined the mainboard of the device. Likebook Mars was not charging anymore, it stuck at battery image on the screen. I've ordered replacement battery from China, but that did not resolve the problem - wasn't charging. Then I've found the correct mainboard and imported from China as well. I've partially fixed the device - it is charging now, but hangs after short reading session. It is very annoying. I started to look around for some other e-ink device.
- It was hard to miss that color screens appeared on the market and became popular. Based on numerous reviews, positive experience with manufacturer of above mentioned M92 and Likebook Mars size I've picked Onyx Boox Mini Tab C as my next device. I was so disappointed with darkness of the Kaleido 3 screen that I already knew it won't be my daily driver in a longer term. Tab Mini C has many advantages - flexibility of Android, color screen, not bad note taker, portability. But darkness of the screen, 150 PPI in color was something that was throwing me away all the time. That's how I started to look around for another device. I was sure this time B&W, 300 PPI and something bigger than 7,8".
Sources of information
Kickstarter & ViWoods main page
Reddit
Comparison Tabl.es
YouTube reviews
I've watched lots of videos in English available on YouTube related to ViWoods AI Paper. Below links to what I've found in alphabetical order, some of them linked on ViWoods main page: 911Studios - Shopping, Gadgets & Tech Chalid Raqami EBPMAN Tech Reviews Enoylity Technology Good e-Reader Good e-Reader Good e-Reader Jeffrey Moss Jeffrey Moss Jeffrey Moss Jeffrey Moss Jeffrey Moss Jeffrey Moss Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters Kit Betts-Masters MorningCoach My Deep Guide My Deep Guide My Deep Guide Rants about tech Rants about tech RodrickViews Tablet Pro Tech Talk Tech TT Technology
Written reviews
eWritable! GoodEReader TopView.ai
Decision
Based on all above I was able to collect the following pros and cons:
Pros
- best B&W e-ink screen out there (Carta 1300),
- one of the best writing and drawing experiences out there,
- solid hardware (CPU, RAM, storage, battery, build quality),
- lightweight,
- very thin,
- highly aesthetic,
- responsive and promising development team,
Cons
- no screen light,
- OS still under development,
- some features are missing (i.e. no Google calendar integration),
- no sound,
- no expansion memory card slot,
- not replaceable battery nor other components,
Shipping
Order
Customs
Delivery
Unboxing